My New Macbook Pro

[MaxPower72]

Hi everybody I'm new to the forum although I've been reading around with great interest for a while.

I recently bought a Macbook Pro 2012 13.3", I've upgraded it myself with
OWC SSD Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 240 GB and OWC 16 GB RAM kit.

 

[MaxPower72]

I'm still deciding whether or not I should upgrade to Mountain Lion, I guess I'll wait a couple of months and see.
here is the SSD drive. I've installed some of the Adobe and Apple programs I use most for graphics and video editing. Boot time after I removed the HDD and switched to OWC SSD went down to 9.2 seconds.

 

[MaxPower72]

here is the first set of benchmarks I ran with Geekbench. 64-bit

 

[MaxPower72]

and this is the 32-bit benchmarks set

 

[yusukeaoki]

tbh, I like ML better than Lion.
Lion had so many bugs during launch and even at 10.7.4, it was heavy.
In ML, boot time got cut down by couple seconds, consumes less memory, and I believe they are faster.

 

[MaxPower72]

I'm considering removing the Superdrive and install another OWC Mercury Extreme 6G 480 GB SSD for a RAID configuration but I'm kind of hesitant because of the SATAIII issue regarding the Optical bay. Is it SATA III or not?
before spending another $600 for the second SSD I'd like to make sure I can get the best performance possible from the hardware configuration I own.

I know this issue is being discussed and is bugging many users, can anyone shed some light? What I've found out so far reading on the internet isn't really giving a straight answer and leaving me with more unanswered questions

thank you for your help
Massimo

 

[yusukeaoki]

I'm considering removing the Superdrive and install another OWC Mercury Extreme 6G 480 GB SSD for a RAID configuration but I'm kind of hesitant because of the SATAIII issue regarding the Optical bay. Is it SATA III or not?
before spending another $600 for the second SSD I'd like to make sure I can get the best performance possible from the hardware configuration I own.

I know this issue is being discussed and is bugging many users, can anyone shed some light? What I've found out so far reading on the internet isn't really giving a straight answer and leaving me with more unanswered questions

thank you for your help
Massimo

Nope 2012 MBP's Optical drive bay is only upto SATA II.
This has been discussed in the previous forum and is identified as SATA II.

 

[MaxPower72]

so I should consider a 3G instead of another 6G?

there's no way around it, I mean Hardware

 

[yusukeaoki]

so I should consider a 3G instead of another 6G?

there's no way around it, I mean Hardware

Well, if you have the cash and dont need that much space go for 3G SSD.
I just need more space so I go with 1TB HDD, soon replacing it with 2TB.

 

[Braniff747SP]

Have the same machine you do--the bare bones one, though. ML runs great on this machine; it feels... smoother? than Lion. I'd get it. Don't you qualify for the free upgrade?

 

[alphaod]

Congrats on the machine… but please post everything next time in one post, instead of four

 

[FastEddiebags]

so I should consider a 3G instead of another 6G?

there's no way around it, I mean Hardware

I would say just get the 6G one since it will be harder to find the 3G and the prices might not be that much lower. Up to you of course.

 

[Orlandoech]

I would say just get the 6G one since it will be harder to find the 3G and the prices might not be that much lower. Up to you of course.

I agree. And also for more future longevity.

 

[nitromac]

Nope 2012 MBP's Optical drive bay is only upto SATA II.
This has been discussed in the previous forum and is identified as SATA II.

Interesting... because I'm looking at System Info right now and both my HDD and SuperDrive's Link Speed are at 6 Gigabit (SATA III)

 

[yusukeaoki]

Interesting... because I'm looking at System Info right now and both my HDD and SuperDrive's Link Speed are at 6 Gigabit (SATA III)

They are. But optibay cannot support it.

 

[nitromac]

They are. But optibay cannot support it.

What do you mean? An optibay just forwards the SATA connection into a compatible "slot" for the HDD so it can fit. I don't think it has anything to do with transfer speed. Considering the controller for both SATA III ports are the same, the macbook shouldn't care whether or not there is a superdrive. As long as it's concerned, there are two slots for two SATA III devices.

 

[yusukeaoki]

What do you mean? An optibay just forwards the SATA connection into a compatible "slot" for the HDD so it can fit. I don't think it has anything to do with transfer speed.

SATA III in optibay would require batter cable, and better shielding because SATA III uses higher frequencies.

 

[nitromac]

SATA III in optibay would require batter cable, and better shielding because SATA III uses higher frequencies.

I don't know where you are pulling this information from because it doesn't make any sense. A cable is a cable; a bunch of metal rods/strips tied together that carry electrical current. Obviously if Apple added SATA III support to both ports in the notebook, surely it makes sense that SATA III devices would then work with these ports. And like I said earlier, an optibay doesn't affect the transfer speeds. It simply provides a mold for a 2.5" drive and directly forwards the data between the macbook and the drive. Ever wonder why caddies are so cheap on eBay? It's because they're very inexpensive to manufacture. A few plates of metal and plastic, and a SATA/power connector and you're good to go. There is no need for "special" SATA cables as they all do the same thing.

 

[yusukeaoki]

I don't know where you are pulling this information from because it doesn't make any sense. A cable is a cable; a bunch of metal rods/strips tied together that carry electrical current. Obviously if Apple added SATA III support to both ports in the notebook, surely it makes sense that SATA III devices would then work with these ports. And like I said earlier, an optibay doesn't affect the transfer speeds. It simply provides a mold for a 2.5" drive and directly forwards the data between the macbook and the drive. Ever wonder why caddies are so cheap on eBay? It's because they're very inexpensive to manufacture. A few plates of metal and plastic, and a SATA/power connector and you're good to go. There is no need for "special" cables.

Heres the whole discussion
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1388284

 

[MaxPower72]

Have the same machine you do--the bare bones one, though. ML runs great on this machine; it feels... smoother? than Lion. I'd get it. Don't you qualify for the free upgrade?

I do qualify for the free upgrade but they keep saying that the scans of the receipt aren't showing that the macbook has been paid and received...
I've done it 3 times, high res scans but always the same reply email

 

[Braniff747SP]

I do qualify for the free upgrade but they keep saying that the scans of the receipt aren't showing that the macbook has been paid and received...
I've done it 3 times, high res scans but always the same reply email

Call them up. You don't wan't to loose out on it.

 

[MaxPower72]

Probably you have all already seen this but I came across it last night and it was a quite interesting read on how to modify the SATA speed in the OB. Not on a 13" though but nonetheless achievable with enough technical knowledge
.
https://sites.google.com/site/themacbookproproject/

Too bad that Apple keeps missing on this kind of things like the Blu-ray drive etc..
They just keep telling customers "what we Really need" instead of leaving a wider range of options for the price they ask; since we all are different and have different requirements from our machines I would expect more in this regard not just a few overpriced "upgrades" like the HDD from 5400 to 7200 rpm ... or the ridiculous price they ask for RAM etc..